Chapter 1591 (1/2)

When the Nether Gatekeeper cautiously assented to the request in order to preserve his life, the azure dragon began to speak very rapidly about the exploits of this ‘Randidly Ghosthound’. The other dragons soon landed nearby and began to nod along with the stories that the first dragon was explaining.

It was clear that they were all were very familiar with these tales.

And it only took a few minutes for the Nether Gatekeeper’s expression to change as the dragon’s described Randidly Ghosthound. When the dragon finally stopped speaking in order to take a breath, the Nether Gatekeeper raised its hand for a moment to speak.

“Ah…” Disappointment rolled off the dragon with palpable sadness. The corners of its mouth drooped downward. It shifted its position uncomfortably. “You… don’t wish to learn more…? Please believe me, if you accept the savior into your life-”

“No, it isn’t that…” The Nether Gatekeeper rasped out. He was quite taken aback when his own voice was even worse than the dragon’s. The Nether Gatekeeper had never spoken in the past, but he had witnessed speaking. And when he opened its mouth and expressed its meaning vocally, the System appeared to take care of the rest. But despite that, the action was somewhat uncomfortable. His throat tingled from the new vibrations.

With all the large dragons crouching around him, the Nether Gatekeeper felt quite out of place. But he also felt a kinship with these azure dragons. The Nether Gatekeeper continued to speak slowly. “I… actually, I too, was recently saved from the Great Abyss by a savior. And… and after hearing you talk about him… I b-believe our saviors are the same person.”

The first dragon’s eyes in front of him were very bright as it nodded seriously. “Of course, there is only one savior.”

Meanwhile, the other dragons growled to each other.

“The Great Abyss…?”

“The Ghosthound is of course active in other places…!”

“Could we… could this be the beginning of a new scripture…?”

“A fellow believer…”

“Now,” The first dragon spoke again. “Brother, please, tell us everything about this Great Abyss and the exploits of the Ghosthound. We must record our saviors actions so we can spread the word of his works.”

*****

Influence +2

Influence +3

Randidly yawned wildly and took a break from repairing the defensive Aether arrays on the Fifth Cohort Rally Station. His fingers dimmed as he stopped channeling Mana through his body. Suddenly I’m gaining multiple Influence at the same time…? Well, I’m not going to complain, but I wonder what’s happening…

Ah, maybe its Kharon’s exposure to my Nether Core? Maybe even Kharon Academy opened. That will probably accelerate the accumulation.

Randidly made a mental note to send a message to Tatiana regarding the development of the Academy, but there were simply too many tasks requiring his attention at the moment. Since waking up this morning and talking to the smug and arrogant Commandant, he had been rather constantly busy. Most of it was catching up on the development of the recruits, but he had also strengthened the images items he had left with three of the recruits to incorporate his new image details.

In addition, Randidly had to speak with Helen and make arrangements for DiOrtho Vant and Raymund Ballast. Both had moved past the point where typical physical training wouldn’t be a problem for them. Randidly didn’t like the satisfaction on the two recruits’ faces when Helen had said that, and because he had still been in a sour mood after Commandant Wick threatened Heiffal, Randidly had created two mini training pods for them.

Those two training pods were perfect replicas of the training pod Randidly had used prior to his ten days away. To the current him such training would only be a warm up, but it was more than enough to teach the recruits some humility.

Influence +2!

Or perhaps its those recruits deepening their awe for me after being chastened…? Randidly grinned but quickly yawned again. He simply was too busy and his body still craved more sleep. He also had several messages from Octavius Shrike, explaining his and Edraine’s investigations in more detail. Yet Randidly couldn’t bring himself to read them in his tired state. This definitely seemed like a time where he would happily let his mind forget he had those waiting messages as he moved on to address more pressing issues.

He briefly considered forwarding the messages to Tatiana and asking her to summarize what they said, but somehow sensed that the head of Kharon wouldn’t be too pleased by his actions. If he was going to leave Expira in her care, he couldn’t continue relying on her.

It was just unfortunate that none of his other subordinates were very talented in the area of information gathering.

Congratulations! Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial (M) has grown to Level 400!

The notification of his first Skill to reach Level 400 was welcome news, but after a small smile he went right back to work. Randidly’s fingers glowed with the blue light of Mana as he continued Engraving the protections. Every line was one more barrier against a sudden attack. With the understanding that the shade gained in Yystrix’s tomb, the number of layers of defenses that Randidly could muster shot upward.

After he finished, he examined the array carefully. The runes glowed with power. Randidly utilized all three of his images to test the defensive limits, then nodded in satisfaction. It won’t be enough to stop someone like Velio Dunn or Commandant Wick, but it should slow them down. Man, even with my improvements, I’m still a bit short from matching up to the powerful figures of the Nexus… hah, perhaps my ten year promise was a bit optimistic…?